Chapter 8
Turns out Ethan Shaw didn’t just look scary—he was scary.
After that little showdown, none of those women dared so much as side-eye me. Life in the village suddenly felt a hell of a lot more peaceful.
Ethan wasn’t just scary. He was kind. He took me in, fed me, protected me, stood up for me when no one else would.
I needed to repay him somehow.
But I couldn’t do much. I could wash clothes, and I was decent at braiding hair. That was about it.
Feeling helpless, I sat on the porch with my chin on my knees. Winnie ran over, all energy and sunshine, hugging my arm.
“Auntie Nina, you look sad.”
“I am,” I admitted softly, blinking fast to hold back tears. “Your dad’s been so good to me, but I don’t know how to thank him.”
Winnie scrunched her little nose and nodded like she was solving a puzzle.
“Ever since you came, Daddy’s been acting weird at night. He stays up late, walks around a lot. One time, I got up to pee and heard him in the other room—he was panting real hard.”
My heart twisted.
It had to be the stress. He used to only have to worry about feeding Winnie. Now he had me to take care of, too. No wonder the man couldn’t sleep.
Winnie couldn’t stand seeing me upset. She dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a worn little booklet and held it out proudly.
“Here! I stole this from Tommy. He said it’s super special—he and the boys hide it under the floorboards. I haven’t even looked at it yet. You can have it.”
Curious, I took the booklet and flipped it open.
First page: a naked man and woman tangled together, lips locked, limbs everywhere.
Every page showed something new. Something…intense.
I stared, wide-eyed. My face flushed hot. But I didn’t close it.
I studied it.
So… this is what men want.
Maybe I finally knew how to repay Ethan Shaw.
